GENDER DIVERSITY STRATEGY

Transcription

1 GENDER DIVERSITY STRATEGY Purpose TMB s Gender Diversity Strategy acknowledges the value of a gender diverse workforce and details our commitment to ensuring that all workplace policies support and enable gender diversity throughout the career lifecycle of our employees. Specifically this strategy aims to ensure that gender is not a barrier and equality exists in all our employment policies and processes including recruitment and retention, performance management, promotions and transfers, training and development, career development, identification of high potentials and succession planning. Introduction Gender equality is achieved when people are able to access and enjoy the same rewards, resources and opportunities regardless of whether they are a woman or a man. Many countries including Australia have made significant progress towards gender equality in recent decades, particularly in areas such as education. However, women continue to earn less than men, are less likely to advance their careers as far as men and are more likely to spend their final years in poverty. At the same time, some men find it more difficult to access family friendly policies or flexible working arrangements than women. The aim of gender equality in the workplace is to achieve broadly equal outcomes for women and men, not exactly the same outcome for all individuals. To achieve this requires: workplaces to provide equal remuneration for women and men for work of equal or comparable value the removal of barriers to the full and equal participation of women in the workforce full and genuine access to all occupations and industries, including to leadership roles for women and men elimination of discrimination on the basis of gender particularly in relation to family and caring responsibilities for both women and men. Achieving gender equality is important for workplaces not only because it s fair and the right thing to do, it s also vitally important to the bottom line of the business and to the productivity of our nation.

2 TMB Business Case FOUNDATIONS Diverse & Representative Workforce A gender-diverse workforce (at all organisational levels, particularly leadership) is an essential foundation for maximising team and business performance, but it is not sufficient without the two additional components of inclusion and flexibility. Organisations will need to determine the appropriate benchmark against which to determine whether gender diversity is appropriately representative (the overall population, national workforce, local community, client or customer base etc.). Inclusive & Equitable Culture A gender inclusive and equitable workplace culture provides the basis for fully utilising the different and complementary strengths that men and women bring to their work and to teams. Inclusion involves empowering everyone to make a relevant contribution e.g. listening to the quietest voice in the room, and valuing and considering everyone s ideas equally. This promotes diversity of thinking, in which assumptions and the status quo can be constructively challenged in pursuit of the best solution. Inclusive cultures require inclusive leadership behaviours, e.g. where decisions are not made within exclusively male networks. Flexible & Empowering Workplace Flexible work practices enable the attraction, retention and optimal utilisation of gender diverse talent. Also, research indicates a strong correlation between flexible work and a sense of inclusion and engagement (because employees have had their unique, individual needs understood and accommodated). Structured appropriately, flexibility has the potential to strengthen individual and team performance (e.g. through discretionary effort) as well as customer relationships and responsiveness. Flexible teams are typically more agile and adaptable, because their work methods are less constrained by time and/or location.

3 DRIVERS Build & leverage complementary capabilities within & between teams Women and men bring different strengths and capabilities, although not all these are necessarily hard-wired by gender, according to recent research. Either way, to develop the best solutions and deliver the best results, everyone has to be open to alternative ways of thinking (e.g. problem-solving, assessing risk etc.), different work styles and preferences (e.g. introvert and extrovert) and leadership styles. Engage, mobilise & retain best available talent and continuously learn The most engaged and productive employees are those who are: empowered to realise their full potential enabled to maximise their contribution to the organisation and team are fairly recognised and rewarded for this are encouraged to be themselves at work. Anticipating and embracing different ways of working also provides a valuable opportunity for continuous learning (from each other) and improvement. Exploit diverse thinking to create best customer & market solutions Most employees have customers of some kind, whether internally or externally. When the composition of teams reflects the gender (and other) diversity of their customers and clients, they are better able to: Develop deeper and more meaningful connections and longer term relationships Understand customers perspectives and use this to better anticipate and exceed their needs and expectations Proactively tailor customer communications, advice, insights and information. Research and organisational experience demonstrate that gender diverse and inclusive teams are consistently more innovative than homogeneous teams, and they avoid the risks associated with group-think (i.e. easily agreed but sub-optimal solutions). Deliver seamlessly by collaborating across barriers & differences Anticipating and embracing different ways of working (amongst co-workers, customers, and other stakeholders) reduces the potential for interpersonal conflict, and more constructive business and organisational outcomes (see below).

4 OUTCOMES Gender equality attracts top talent A workplace that is equally appealing for women and men will provide businesses access to the entire talent pool. As women are increasingly more highly educated than men, a workplace that isn t attractive to women risks losing the best talent to competitors. Gender equality can reduce expenses Replacing a departing employee can cost 75% or more of their annual wage. As both women and men are more likely to remain with an organisation they view as fair, employee turnover for an organisation offering gender equality can be reduced, thereby decreasing the high expense of recruitment. Companies with gender equality perform better A considerable body of research suggests a link between gender equality and better organisational performance. While there are a range of reasons to explain this link, one factor is that diversity brings together varied perspectives, diversity of thought, produces a more holistic analysis of the issues an organisation faces and spurs greater effort, leading to improved decision making. At a high level, organisational and leadership commitment to gender equality (including gender diversity, inclusion and flexibility) have the potential to increase business performance (including revenue growth, cost management and profitability), and competitive advantage. This is achieved through the combination of enhancements in productivity, customer or client service, innovation, agility and risk management, as explained above. BENEFITS The return on investment in gender equality may not necessarily be immediately evident at an organisational level (although benefits to employees, customers and other stakeholders may be more visible). For the reasons set out above, gender equality supports the long-term health and viability of an organisation. Fully unlocking the value from a gender equitable workplace requires culture change as well as process improvement. Influencing individual attitudes and values is not always easy and takes time. However, the prize on offer is an organisation and/or business which is more sustainable, i.e. is better equipped for the future, irrespective of a constantly evolving external environment and an accelerating rate of change.

5 BENEFITS Sustainable Business Performance and Growth OUTCOMES Increased Competitive Advantage through market-leading: Productivity, Customer/Client Service, Innovation, Agility and Risk Management DRIVERS Build and leverage complementary capabilities within and between teams Engage, mobilise and retain best available talent and continuously learn Exploit diverse thinking to create best stakeholder and market solutions Deliver seamlessly by collaborating across barriers and differences Flexible and Empowering Workplace FOUNDATIONS Inclusive and Equitable Culture Diverse and Representative Workforce Notes TMB provides financial services to 162,995 members. TMB s customer base comprises 59% female representation. TMB acknowledges that research shows that organisations with gender diverse boards and management teams are more successful.

6 2015 Gender Diversity Action Plan Priority Levers Gender Composition Talent Pipeline Leader and Manager Capability Measurement and Reporting Strategic Long Term Objective 1. Increase representation of women on management team to 50% by March 2020 Current Actions Recruitment policy requires at least one woman to be interviewed for every management and non-traditional role vacancy Continue to sponsor Women in Leadership program Offer other relevant development opportunities to women as they arise Encourage female representation on 2015 Enterprise Bargaining negotiating committee Encourage more women to join the Women in Mutuals Network Future Actions Gender Pay Equity analyse gender pay data and develop action plans to reduce gender pay gap Success Measures Increase number of women in Management and higher paid specialist roles Improve gender pay gap year on year 2. Build a gender diverse talent pipeline to leadership Talent Management (HIPO) program, Emerging Leader Program, Trainee/Graduate program targets gender equality ILC to comprise equal number of men and women Source applicants from agencies such as 100mum s Traineeship/Graduate program to target gender equality More internal women apply for and gain promotions More women are identified in succession plans for key roles 3. Increase leader and manager capability to achieve our gender diversity vision Educate managers about the benefits of accommodating requests for flexibility Gain WGEA Employer of Choice Citation in 2015 Include gender diversity module into Developing Leadership Skills course Conduct Unconscious Bias training for all managers Include specific gender diversity KPI in Manager Performance Assessments Increase number of approved flexibility agreements by both genders year on year All leaders and managers attend unconscious bias training 4. Establish a measurement and reporting framework that provides senior management and board visibility of progress Seek CEO & Board support for quarterly executive team and Board gender reporting Develop reporting table for endorsement by the Diversity Committee Develop action plan dashboard for reporting to Management. CEO/Executive team buy-in Reporting provides insight for gender diversity improvements